My New Heroines
If you know nothing else about me, you should probably know that I’m something of a political junkie. I’ve tried to keep my political postings to a minimum here on this blog because for a long time I’ve viewed it as strictly about writing. However one of the added benefits of renaming and thus rebranding my blog is that it allows me to step away from just being about writing….even if only for a moment and/or in small ways.
Even if you’re not politically inclined it’s likely you have heard or at least have some small idea about what happened in Texas last night. Senator Wendy Davis staged a thirteen hour filibuster in which she stood and spoke all the way up to about an hour and a half before the midnight deadline in which it was decided (by the men in the room) that she was off topic and therefore she should be stopped. What ensued was an hours long debate on whether or not she had actually strayed from the topic at hand and who’s turn it was to speak. Literally. They were arguing, who’s turn it was to speak. It was a little confusing admittedly. Because of her literally standing for thirteen hours and talking for thirteen hours, Wendy Davis is my new hero, but she is not the only one.
Senator Leticia Van de Putte left her father’s funeral early to lend her voice to Senator Davis’s filibuster. She like Senator Davis is one of my new heroes however not just because of this but because when it came to the presiding officer Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst continuously ignoring her inquiries Senator Van de Putte had finally had enough and uttered what will arguably go down as one of the best lines in Texas legislative history, “At what point must a female senator raise her hand, or her voice, to be heard over the male colleagues in the room?” to which she received a roaring and thunderous applause.
It is thanks to these women, and the loud voice of the people that could be heard around the entirety of the chamber that SB5 was unable to pass. Democracy is a crazy thing sometimes, just when you thought people didn’t care enough to actually stand up and fight, people surprise you. The absolute chaos that was the end of that filibuster was a beautiful thing in politics because it says to me that when pushed hard enough, eventually the people will push back. They will fight back against the so-called party of small government and their sweeping laws that try to undermine what is already a constitutional right. It’s interesting to me that the far-right that has taken over a large part of the Republican party claims that they’re all about small government and protecting the Constitution when their record clearly shows that they’re only about small government and protecting the Constitution when it suits their own political whims. Such as when it regards guns. Make no mistake, there is nothing small government about forcing medically unnecessary ultra sounds on women or telling people who they can or cannot marry. And you are not protecting the Constitution by trying to gut a right that is protected under it.
